12 attacks against politicians mark the most violent elections in Ecuador

Ecuadorian Armed Forces, together with members of the Police, in an operation in Guayaquil (Ecuador). Marcos Pin (EFE)

Fear haunts the candidates for mayors and prefects for Ecuador's sectional elections on February 5, the most violent the South American country has experienced so far.

Since the registration of the candidacies in August 2022, there have been 12 attacks against candidates for mayors and prefectures.

In one case, they assassinated one of the candidates, Gerardo Delgado, a popular communicator who was profiled by the Citizen Revolution movement of former President Rafael Correa.

The others have been attacked with firearms, stabbed, their vehicles have been blown up, explosives have been thrown at their homes, their relatives or close staff have been murdered.

In some cases, the attacks against someone have been repeated.

Richard Firmat managed to get out alive after two subjects opened fire on him while he was in his vehicle after a political rally ended in the town of Arrecho, a rural area of ​​the Simón Bolívar canton, on the Ecuadorian coast, where he is running for mayor.

“I take tours, I leave a triptych for people and a sweetie so they can read my proposals,” he says.

He did that on January 9, he was driving his truck on a dirt road when two men began to shoot at him, "two bullets hit my left arm and I lost control" narrates the candidate.

"I just sped up while one of my companions took the wheel of the car and we managed to get out, although the gunmen kept shooting as we drove away."

Simón Bolívar is a canton in the province of Guayas, the most violent in the country, where violent crimes number in the thousands.

In 2022, 2,000 homicides were registered.

In rural areas like Simón Bolívar, people are extorted by organized crime gangs and the vast countryside is often used as a clandestine runway for drug planes.

It is a hot area, where barely 30,000 people live, and a little more than 20,000 are eligible to vote.

The other three companions of the candidate were unharmed and helped him make a tourniquet with the campaign shirt because the bullet had hit an artery.

"I don't know who doesn't want me in the race, but I filed a complaint for the Police to investigate," says Firmat.

So far there are no detainees, nor has he received police custody.

This is the most recent attack in a sectional election marked by violence and the shadow of the interference of drug traffickers in Ecuadorian politics.

President Guillermo Lasso has assured that "there are candidates who were fired as advisors to assembly members due to allegations of links to drug trafficking" and offered to publicly deliver the evidence "that has been found through intelligence actions", but that was ago a month and the evidence has not been revealed.

If the evidence is presented, the National Electoral Council cannot control, for example, where the resources come from to finance ostentatious campaigns, says the highest authority, Diana Atamaint.

“This is a post-electoral examination, once the campaign accounts and supporting documents are presented, we do an analysis and, if the values ​​do not add up, we raise the alerts to the Prosecutor's Office,” she explains.

In this scenario, the elections will take place on February 5, where 5,567 authorities will be elected in Ecuador, this in the midst of the uncertainty that violence could escalate to the electoral precincts or even attack the facilities where the computer centers will be located. They receive the information of the voting records.

According to the National Electoral Council, a security protocol is being finalized to react to the current violent context that may disrupt the voting process, something that Ecuadorians have never experienced before.

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